


Silver Bells and Cockleshells

by Measured



Category: Rune Factory (Video Games), Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-02-05
Packaged: 2021-01-05 18:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21213134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/pseuds/Measured
Summary: Shara's arms were filled with flowers of all kinds, bundled together into a large bouquet. There was a smudge of dirt on her pale cheek which only made her look even more endearing. Shara could get grass-stained, muddy and smell like fertilizer and she'd still be as charming as a summer day.





	Silver Bells and Cockleshells

**Author's Note:**

> [](https://cottoncandy-bingo.dreamwidth.org/profile)[cottoncandy_bingo](https://cottoncandy-bingo.dreamwidth.org/): gardening.

Shara's arms were filled with flowers of all kinds, bundled together into a large bouquet. There was a smudge of dirt on her pale cheek which only made her look even more endearing. Shara could get grass-stained, muddy and smell like fertilizer and she'd still be as charming as a summer day.

"Oh, they're lovely!" Kuruna said. She leaned in the smell the mix of scents that Shara mixed together quite wonderfully. She always had such a good sense of decor, or aesthetics, if you will.

"These are the first flowers of the season," Shara said. "I couldn't wait to bring them here."

"How much do I owe you—?"

"Don't be silly, it's a gift for my favorite person. You don't owe me anything," Shara said.

She arranged the flowers in a vase she had given to Kuruna some time ago as a gift. It was Kuruna's favorite part of her tent, a warm pastel reminder of Shara for all the times when she was gone.

"I got some new seeds in, they're perfect for summer. With a little fertilizer, I think you could grow out here. There's some fertile ground near the river and oasis," Shara said.

"We've tried to plant there before, but Zaid always forgets to help water them, and Ondorus is always too caught up in his books to remember, so the responsibility falls to me, and I have too much as Elder of the settlement to finish it," Kuruna replied. She pushed a stray hair behind her ear.

"If that's the case, then I'll help you water. I come this way almost every day, anyways," Shara said.

"But usually you come through the portal at Micah's house to avoid the monsters," Kuruna pointed out.

"Then you'll just have to be my guardian and water them with me. You'll be my very own knight in cute armor."

Kuruna was flustered at this, unable to think of anything witty–or even halfway coherent to this. Thankfully, Shara continued on, and got to another reason behind her visit.

"Oh! That reminds me, I brought another little thing for you," Shara said. Out of her pack she drew the most beautiful waterpot she'd ever seen, red with white hearts on it. "Ta-da! For your new garden!"

"A joy waterpot? But those are so expensive and hard to get!" Kuruna exclaimed. She couldn't help but stroke the smooth side of the lovely waterpot which shone red in the light of the tent.

"Apparently, Micah was trying to increase his crafting skills and made several of them. Raven just showed up and gave me two of them. She wouldn't take any money for them or anything, and you know how Raven is."

Kuruna hadn't acquainted herself with all the members of the village so far—and had in fact, stayed as far away from Marian as possible–but she had grown close enough to Micah to meet his new wife from time to time. According to Shara, Raven had been even more closed off before she had fallen in love with Micah, which was hard to imagine from a girl who had only had blunt, terse conversations with Kuruna, but as Shara said, this was just the way Raven was.

"So, do you want to get to work?" Shara said eagerly. "I bet you're just dying to use this waterpot, huh?"

"You've got me there," Kuruna said. She gave the waterpot one last appreciative stroke. "It's awful hot at this point of the day, though."

"A little heat never hurt me. I'll just wash off when I get back," Shara said. "Come on, my brave knight, I know you'll protect me~"

"All right, a little sweating won't hurt either of us," Kuruna said determinedly.

"Hee hee, then we can go bathe together at the hot springs! Or, maybe we can cool off by going skinny dipping down in Privera forest's stream," Shara said.

Kuruna flushed at that. She'd visited the hot springs plenty of times with Shara, but they'd always had bathing suits on. Skinny dipping...now that was something else entirely, even if they were both girls.

"Hee! You're so cute when you blush," Shara said.

"L-let's just get going!" Kuruna said, flushing in a mix of both anger and embarrassment. She walked ahead, walking with purpose, like she hadn't let a hornless girl more than half her age get under her skin.

*

Kuruna held her staff aloft and began the chant in an ancient language, summoning a pair of orbs of light which circled around them, keeping back the several goblin pirates which attempted to charge them. With each charge, the orbs weakend somewhat, but she was strong enough that the magic held.

"I wish I knew a soothe or a tame spell which would make them become tame and cute, like the woolies in Privera forest," Shara said, a somber look on her face. She hated to harm even the most fearsome of monsters, even the ones she was afraid of. Shara was just that gentle.

"If we hurry, we won't send them back to the Forest of Beginnings," Kuruna said. She took Shara's hand, and they ran through chasm of sand and rock until they were hidden behind a large slab of sandstone.

"I...don't...think they can see us here," Kuruna said.

The sun was high in the sky, and the sand rough through her sandals. It always seemed to get in the most inconvenient places, from her shoes to even her food. In the hundreds of years she'd been in the desert, she'd gotten used to it, though it never stopped being a minor annoyance.

"Do you need to stop to rest and empty the sand from your sandals?" Kuruna asked.

"No, I'm good. It's not that far from here," Shara said.

Kuruna nodded. "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" Shara said, looking all determination, which only made her look like a puffed up kitten.

Kuruna took her wrist again, marveling at the heat which seemed to even rival the eternal summer sun of the desert. She summoned up another wall of spinning orbs of light and they ran until they reached the river, so fast that blood pounded through her veins and a little thrill came through her. Kuruna couldn't tell if it was because of the running or because of Shara's hand in hers.

When they got to the river, Kuruna focused inwards and lifted her staff to summon a large icicle and sent it flying at the portal. It smashed into the green swirling orb, until it closed in on itself, dissolving into nothing before anymore monsters could come out of it.

"Wow, your magic is really something! I don't think there's another magician as good as you in town, not even Marian," Shara said.

"Well, thank you. I have had several hundreds of years to perfect it," Kuruna said.

"And you're always so pretty when you do magic, it makes your horn glow and your hair shine and fly about," Shara said.

Kuruna didn't know how to respond to this. No one had ever thought she was pretty before. Monstrous, yes. Beautiful? Hardly.

Shara didn't press her to reply, and instead began to rifle through her pack until she had pulled several dried weeds out. She placed them on top of the patches of fertile ground.

"First you have to fertilize the soil so the plants have nutrients."

Shara pulled a hoe out of her pack, and began to till the weeds into the ground. The sun had risen high, and already Kuruna could feel perspiration forming on her forehead. Kuruna joined her to make the job easier, and in no time, they had both patches of fertile ground ready for seeds.

"Is there a particular order?" Kuruna asked.

"You can plant them in rows, or all side by side. I like to make designs, personally."

"Designs?" Kuruna asked.

"Yup! Like hearts, or smiley faces. I've always wanted to make something big enough to write a message out. Micah's was the only one big enough for such a thing, though..." Shara trailed off. She looked aside for a moment, and Kuruna felt a tightening in her chest. She'd suspected that Shara had felt something towards Micah, though how deep those feelings had run, she hadn't known, given that he was almost engaged to Raven by the time she'd met Shara.

Shara wasn't the type of girl to spend her life pining away. She was strong and full of love—so much, in fact, that Kuruna couldn't tell if all her compliments were just an extension of her friendship or something more. Even as pointed as flirty as they were, Kuruna couldn't help but reason that Shara was just a kind person who was kind to everyone she met.

"Is there something on my face? You keep staring," Shara said.

"Um—Actually, there's a–"

She hadn't seen it before then when she'd been lost in thoughts, but now in the light, she caught sight of a little red bug with black dots all over its wings. She brushed the bug off of Shara's hair. Saved by the beetle, now there was a thought.

"How cute! They're good for the flowers, you know. They eat up all the bad bugs. A ladybug is a garden's best friend."

The little ladybug flew away into the sky as they watched, until it was just a little red dot in the distance, and then no trace of it remained at all.

"You should talk to the flowers every day when you water them. It keeps them healthy, and makes sure they don't get lonely. You should also keep fertilizing them ever so often—we have some more weeds at the shop. Oh! And harvest time is different for all of them. Once they've grown, it'll be quicker, but for now, it's going to be about ten days—"

"I don't know if I can remember all that," Kuruna said.

"Then I'll just have to come out and visit you every day to remind you!" Shara said.

Every time Shara left, she missed her a little more, wished she'd stay a little longer.

"I will look forward to it. I only hope you will come to visit me every day for the rest of my life," Kuruna said.

Shara took her Kuruna's hands in hers. "And I hope so, too. It'd be horrible to not see my sweetheart all the time."

"S-sweetheart?" Kuruna flushed bright, and frowned, growing angry from her embarrassment. "Teasing isn't nice, Shara!"

"Do I have to be really obvious and write it out in flowers, then? Honestly! I've been flirting with you for _months_ and you haven't gotten it yet?" Shara said. "I thought you knew I was after you!"

"O-of course I knew you were making remarks about me, but you call everyone pretty. You're kind to everyone, not just me," Kuruna said, quite flustered now.

"So, if I start acting like Raven to everyone and only smile for you, _then_ will you believe me?" Shara said.

She couldn't even imagine Shara like. Well, that was a lie. She tried to imagine, and Shara supplemented it with a comic exaggerated angry expression.

Kuruna began to laugh—she couldn't help it, Shara just looked so _ridiculous._

"I could start wooing you even more every day. I've got a few new recipes for chocolate," Shara said, giving her a sly smile.

Her heart raced faster, and not just because of Shara. Eating chocolate from Shara every single day? This was like a dream come true. And yet, there was one dark cloud over her happiness. The thought _am I second best?_ filled her.

"But, Micah... Are you sure—?"

"What about him?" Shara said. She looked genuinely perplexed at this.

"Didn't he and you...? Wouldn't the flower message be for him—?"

"Oh, no! We're just friends! I had feelings for him once, but that was a long time ago, and really was just a silly crush, nothing important," Shara said.

"Well, I should hope not. I'd hate to think what a jealous and angry Raven would look like," Kuruna said.

Shara laughed. "Tell me about it."

Kuruna cleared her throat and began. "You look....lovely," Kuruna said. It sounded clipped and too formal even to her own ears. "I happily accept....no, that's not right. I... Oh, this isn't coming out right!"

"You're so cute when you're flustered," Shara said. She leaned up on tip-toe and kissed Kuruna's cheek. It was just a soft touch, but it warmed her whole body up. It only made her more tongue-tied.

"Sing to the flowers for me. I planted them with care. I hope they make you as happy as they make me," Shara said.

"Of course they will. They're a precious gift from my most precious person," Kuruna said softly.

"See, you're getting the hang of it!" Shara said.

Shara looked up to the sky. "I'm afraid I have to really go now—I need to go make some lunch for Monica," she said.

"Of course, I'll be waiting for your return."

"I can't wait till then. I'll be sure to bring some chocolate. Sweets for the sweet!" She winked at Kuruna as she left and turned around the bend.

The fertile earth was wet and filled with new seeds and new promises. Kuruna remembered the scent of the flowers, and how they swayed in the wind in Shara's carefully tended garden. Soon, she'd have a garden of her own to tend.

No, she thought. That was wrong. Soon _they'd_ have a garden of their own.


End file.
